Hemline gauge

ABSTRACT

A hemline gauge adapted to be fitted to a center tube of a dress form which can be set at a required height on said tube and is rotatable about the axis thereof, and fitted with elements which can be gripped about a hem to form vertical pleats through which pins can be passed to maintain the formed hem when the elements are opened apart and released.

United States Patent Arthur et al. 5] May 16,1972

[ HEMLINE GAUGE References Cited 72 Inventors: Eric Richard Arthur, 94 Boston Road, UN'TED STATES PATENTS H y Oliver Robert l m hn, 1 E 985,070 2/1911 Seeling ..33/10 down Park, ndon, both of England 3,311,979 4/1967 Orthwin ....33/9 R [22] Filed, Oct 9 1970 2,792,631 5/1957 Nock ..33/9 R 21] Appl. No.: 79,486 Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin 7 Assistant Examiner-Geo. V. Larkin Attorney-Emory L. Groff and Emory L. Groff, Jr. [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 10, 1969 Great Britain ..49,905/69 [57] ABSTRACT A hemline gauge adapted to be fitted to a center tube of a [52] U.S. Cl. ..223/1.1, 33/9 R dress form which can be set at a required height on said tube 51 Int. Cl ..A4lh 31 00, A4lh 9 00 I and is rotatable about the axis thereof, and fitted ith ele- [58] Field or Search ..33/s,9, 10,9A,9R; merits which can be 'pp about a hem to form vertical 223/ pleats through which pins can be passed to maintain the formed hem when the elements are opened apart and released.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures Patented May 16, 1972 3,662,931

.2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIGI.

Patented May 16, 1972 .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HEMLINE GAUGE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to dress forms of the kind comprising a vertical center tube or pedestal supporting a body part of any required construction, for example of deformable wire or of sections giving a solid appearance and made of a synthetic plastics or other suitable material.

The object of the present invention is the provision of a dress form of the above mentioned kind incorporating a gauge by which a hem line can be evenly formed and pinned in position quickly and accurately without the need of marking the dress material, skirt or like article of wearing apparel with chalk.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention consists in the provision of a hemline gauge for a dress form of the kind referred to which comprises a. a collar rotatable and vertically slidable on the center tube of the form,

b. a height measure on said tube against which the collar can be located at a required height,

c. an arm hinged to said collar so as to be swingable upwardly from a substantially horizontal in-use position into a vertical out-of-use" unobstructive position,

. a slider displaceable along said arm,

e. a pair of elements carried by said slider and adapted to be closed together,

f. a pair of interengaging pleat-forming members of W shape in cross section fitted to the outer ends of said elements,

g. one of said pleat-forming members being formed with slots which open through the side edges thereof and having a detent formed in its center corrugation, and

h. the other of said pleat-forming members being formed with a detent in each of its two outer corrugations,

the arrangement being such that when said pleat-forming members are interengaged with a folded lower edge of a dress or like garment clamped between them and pleated, the said detents and open-ended slots combine to form a passage through which a pin can be passed and through the pleated material clamped between said members in such a manner that the pin does not obstruct opening apart of said members to release the pinned material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevation showing the lower part of the vertical center tube or pedestal of the dress form fitted with the hemline gauge of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view drawn to a larger scale illustrating the actual gauge.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the clamping elements opened apart and slightly face-on to illustrate how the pin passage is formed.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view illustrating a detail of construction, and

F IG. 5 is a transverse cross-section taken through the pleating elements in a closed together position with a double thickness of hem material sandwiched therebetween.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to said drawings, the center tube is indicated at l and is preferably mounted at its lower end on a tripod stand 2.

The lower end of this center tube is fitted with a hemline gauge which comprises a collar 3 which is an easy sliding fit on the center tube 1 and which is supported on the friction boss 4 which is adapted to exert a sufficient grip on the pedestal l as to ensure that it will remain in any position to which it is set when slid on said pedestal.

The said boss 4 may be a moulding of a semi-rigid synthetic plastics material formed with a split 4d which renders the boss sufficiently resilient as to ensure that it will grip the pedestal 1 in any position to which it is set.

The collar 3 has hinged or pivoted thereto, as indicated at 3a, the inner end of an arm 5 which can be swung from a vertical outof-use unobstructive position against the pedestal l to a position of use in which it extends horizontally from the center tube 1, as shown. The inner end of the arm 5a where it is hinged at 30 inclines towards the collar 3, as indicated at 50, and towards the pedestal l.

Preferably, as shown in FIG. 4, the end of the part 5a which is pivoted at 3a to the collar 3, is formed with two steps or abutments 5b and 5:: which engage with the part 3b of the collar having the pivot 3a so as to limit respectively downward swinging of the arm 5 into its horizontal position of use, and upward swinging thereof into a vertical out-of-use position alongside the center tube 1.

The part 5 of said arm has displaceable therealong a slider 6 having upstanding therefrom a pair of elements 7 and 8 fitted respectively with inter-engaging members 7a and 8a of a pin gauge between which a folded lower edge D (FIG. 5) of a dress can be clamped, the members 7a and 8a being corru gated or of W" shape in horizontal cross-section.

The outer side portions of the corrugations 7c of the member 7a are each formed with a slot 9, and the center corrugation of this member is formed with a detent or pressed-in trough-like part 10 which is aligned with the slots 9 and combine with the latter to form a part of a passage for a pin. The other member 8a is formed with a detent or press-in troughlike part 11 in each of the faces of the two outer corrugations which are opposed to the member 7a, and these pressed-in parts 11 combine with the slots 9 in the member 7a to complete the pin passage, the center or intermediate part of which passage is constituted by the trough-like part 10 in the member 7a which is opposite the center concave corrugation of the member 8a.

When the members 7a and 8a are closed together (FIG. 5) to clamp a double thickness of a folded hem D between themselves by swinging the element 7 about a pivot 71: on the slider 6, the material of the hem is pleated and pinned in position by passing a pin p through the pin passage formed between the opposed members 7a and 8a.

Preferably, the face of the element 8 directed towards the element 7 is marked with measurements 8b to enable the depth of the double thickness of the hem to be determined. The opposed face of the element 7 is formed with a vertical slot between the forked lower end of the element 7, and the top edge 7d of this slot abuts the top face 6a of the slider 6 to limit outward swinging of the member 7 away from the member 8 when the members are in an open position to receive a double thickness of material therebetween.

In use, the arm 5, which is normally kept in an upright position against the center tube 1, is swung down into its horizontal position of use, as shown in FIG. 1, and is raised to the correct height by sliding the supporting boss 4 up or down on the center tube 1 against a scale of measurements 1a and the slider 6 is slid out horizontally into line with the lower edge of the fabric which hangs from the dress fonn. By rotating the gauge horizontally intermittently step by step and pinning the folded material to form a hem, it is possible to form the latter level and accurately and quickly without recourse to the use of chalk.

A stop 5d is provided at the outer end of the arm 5 to limit outward movement of the slides 6 and separation of the latter from said arm.

We claim:

1. A hemline gauge for a dress comprising:

a. a stand adapted to be placed on a floor,

b. a vertical center tube extending upwardly from the stand,

c. a collar rotatably and vertically slidable on said tube,

d. a height scale on said tube against which the collar can be located at a required height,

e. an arm hinged to said collar so as to be swingable upwardly from a substantially horizontal in-use position into a vertical out-of-use unobstructive position,

f. a slider displaceable along said arm,

g. a pair of elements carried by said slider and adapted to be closed together,

members are interengaged with a folded lower edge of a dress or like garment clamped between them and pleated, the said detents and open-ended slots combine to form a passage through which a pin can be passed and through the pleated material clamped between said members in such a manner that the pin does not obstruct opening apart of said members to release the pinned material. 

1. A hemline gauge for a dress comprising: a. a stand adapted to be placed on a floor, b. a vertical center tube extending upwardly from the stand, c. a collar rotatably and vertically slidable on said tube, d. a height scale on said tube against which the collar can be located at a required height, e. an arm hinged to said collar so as to be swingable upwardly from a substantially horizontal ''''in-use'''' position into a vertical ''''out-of-use'''' unobstructive position, f. a slider displaceable along said arm, g. a pair of elements carried by said slider and adapted to be closed together, h. a pair of interengaging pleat-forming members of ''''W'''' shape in cross section fitted to the outer ends of said elements, i. one of said pleat-forming members being formed with slots which open through the side edges thereof and having a detent formed in its center corrugation, and j. the other of said pleat-forming members being formed with a detent in each of its two outer corrugations, the arrangement being such that when said pleat-forming members are interengaged with a folded lower edge of a dress or like garment clamped between them and pleated, the said detents and open-ended slots combine to form a passage through which a pin can be passed and through the pleated material clamped between said members in such a manner that the pin does not obstruct opening apart of said members to release the pinned material. 